Located in a strategic point as near the river Orcia and the Via Francigena, it was built in the twelfth century by the religious Ugolino da Rocchione as a place of accommodation for pilgrims.
In 1236 it was donated to the Spedale of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, which had in mind to design a flourishing grancia (fortified farm) as well as a hospice.
The entire complex has a square shape in which towers stand at every corner, also contains Renaissance revisions (1446) as some stretches of walls tilted "shoe" and the anti-port.
Finally, in the first inner courtyard we can find on the left the Gothic church of San Niccolò, built in the fourteenth century and on the right a second courtyard, preceded by a door embellished with the coat of arms of the Santa Maria della Scala, which leads to the mastio, or the main tower of the castle where the lord resided.